Richard Holder Issues Mea Culpa in Wake of Anti-Israel Diatribe on Facebook

A Montreal restaurateur has issued an apology in the wake of the publication of a diatribe posted to social media highly critical of Israel.

Richard Holder (Holder, Brasserie Bernard, Bar Waverly) posted his mea culpa yesterday in the comments section of an article published Monday on Eater Montreal. The article outlined details of several fiery Facebook posts in support of political organizations like 'I Acknowledge Apartheid Exists' and containing statements such as "The bully state of israel must end one day."

Holder has since disabled his Facebook profile. The apology comes amid calls to boycott his establishments and coincides with the opening of his new restaurant on the Main, Majestique, in a renovated building once occupied by iconic Jewish delicatessen Delli-Cité.

Here, the full text of Richard Holder's apology.

I would like to apologize, very sincerely, to the Jewish community, to all my Jewish friends, to my brothers, Paul, Denis and Maurice, to all my business partners and to anyone else that has been offended or impacted upon by my comments made online about the government of the state of Israel.

Furthermore, I would like to clarify that the views I expressed online in no way reflect those of my brothers, my business partners, my associates, or my employees.

My words were hurtful and offensive, and do not represent my feelings towards Jewish people. I ask the Jewish community to forgive me this immense lack of judgement.

Sincerely,

Richard Holder

· A Montreal Restaurateur's Anti-Israel Rant [-EMTL-]